Brussels Zaventem Airport

Customer Reviews

3 star Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 144 reviews
4/10
3 star Skytrax Rating
Sort Reviews by :
Show
3/10

"avoid traveling through Brussels"

(United States)

Trip Verified | It was a surprise to find out that Brussels airport (BRU) cannot handle a little bit of snow. I got stranded in Brussels for 2 nights/3 days (Dec 10-12) because of 1-2 inches of snow. The airport appeared to be utterly unprepared to deal with small amounts of snow that would cause limited if any disruption in other airports that deal with snow regularly. Instead of deploying staff along the gates to re-book flights and arrange hotel reservations, Brussels Airlines used one or two counters, each staffed with 3 customer representatives, to service the entire terminal. As cancellations continued on the second day, the number of passengers stranded increased substantially, but the airport response remained the same. Lines were as long as 400 meters and passengers would spend the whole day/night in line. I suggest both airline and airport learn from the experience of other countries that handle severe snow storms on a regular basis. My recommendation is to avoid traveling through Brussels if there is snow in the forecast.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitDecember 2017
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
8/10

"terminal is modern and clean"

(Belgium)

Trip Verified | Overall a great airport. The terminal is modern and clean. It has many services, friendly staff, security is mostly very fast (especially the fast lane) and the SN lounges are far above average (though they can get very crowded at time). Access to the city is very convenient by train or bus. Be aware that food and drinks are mostly very expensive
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
7/10

"Airport is very clean"

(Germany)

Verified Review | I do like airports with short distances like the one in Brussels. You can reach any point in the airport within minutes and you don't have to walk your feet off if you want to get to the taxis outside. Airport is very clean, very clear. Arrivals ist better then departure. The departure experience is however not so nice. Parking lots are quite confusing and ugly.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitAugust 2017
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
8/10

"thought that staff were quite rude"

(Ireland)

Unverified | I thought that staff were quite rude. In the airport there was a booth that was asking for documents . I was unsure what she had meant because in my local airport (Dublin), there are not booths like this for departure. I handed her my passport and she asked for my boarding pass. She had also made a rather cheeky remark 'No Ticket No Fly'. Other than that it was a lovely clean airport. Although there is a lack of restaurants in Gates B.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitOctober 2017
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
7/10

"fast and not complicated"

(Indonesia)

Verified Review | Brussels International Airport is very clean and attractive, security check service also includes fast and not complicated. The toilets are clean and the Airport atmosphere is also convenient. Waiting time for Security check was smooth and quite quick, but I was in Priority Line.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
7/10

"has its own perks and charms"

(Belgium)

Verified Review | Since I moved to Brussels couple of years ago, I happen to walk Zaventem's hallways quite regularly. This is not a huge airport and this is probably not the nicest, however, it has its own perks and charms. The airport is made of two terminals, two huge straight hallways were all the gates are located. All the gates are reachable after passing the central security control. First point, a lot of progress has been made there over the past years and I rarely wait more than 10 minutes to pass security which is a huge improvement compare to five years ago where 30 minutes were a standard waiting time. After security, go right for the non Schengen terminal, all international flights (including Ireland and UK) leave from there (automatic border control system is efficient). Go left and get to the Schengen zone (and non Schengen. In the morning. For Africa only, until 14:00. This is among the points that would definitely need some improvement, but, I'll come to that later) I'll focus on the Terminal 1 (Gates A and T, Schengen zone) as it's the one I know best. First of all, after the mandatory annoying walk through the duty free supermarket where everyone is slowing down, you reach the heart of the shopping zone. You'll find the most famous Belgian's brand of chocolate and beer, but, prices aren't interesting, better pack your bag with souvenirs before you reach the airport. There's a few bars which serve decent food and good beer, I usually have no problem to find a seat, so, waiting is generally quite pleasant. The free wifi is fairly good, you can have some work done or relax browsing the internet without issues. The only smoking zone is located within the gate T zone which is the non Schengen zone until 14:00. So, flying to Europe before 14:00, no smoking zone (and, anyway, the tiny room is really not pleasant). On the good side, service is ok, food and beverage are good and I usually enjoy my waiting time there. Security is pretty fast, wifi is ok, cannot complain too much. However, on the down side, all shops and restaurant are packed (some are spread out a bit further, but 85% of them are in the same place), the cleanness could be improved and the low cost waiting zone is a bit austere. Nevertheless, it has improved a lot and new improvements are planned for the future so, my expectations is that this airport is going to keep improving in the future.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
1/10

"There was no public transport"

(Cyprus)

Unverified | My flight departed at 06.00hrs and I needed to be at the airport at 04.00hrs. There was no public transport between Brussels city and the airport and I was forced to take a taxi (40 EUR). An international airport such as BRU should at least provide good transfer facilities to the city it is suppose to serve.
Experience At AirportArrival Only
Date VisitJuly 2017
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
no
6/10

"airport itself is very convenient"

(United States)

Verified Review | The only negative for this airport is when you arrive - if you don't hold a European passport and have to queue with hundreds (probably a thousand) other passengers arriving at the same time all waiting for the passport control. In my case I arrived at 8am from a long haul transatlantic flight and had to wait for 2 (!) hours because of such a long queue. There were only 4 or 6 immigration booths open for thousands of arriving passengers. Border security is undoubtedly important but having only 4-6 passport control booths for such a big airport is beyond explanation. Immigration authorities, however, are very nice and friendly. Departing from BRU is a breeze, lines for passport control move very quick. The airport itself is very convenient - lots of shopping, many places to grab a quick bite, plenty of seating near each gate.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
yes
10/10

"employees were helpful and friendly"

(Belgium)

Verified Review | There are many shops, bars and restaurants. The employees were helpful and friendly. We had a very pleasant shopping experience. The airport is clean and there are many toilets. There's a lot to do in the airport. It's not to busy. I'll take my next flight there again!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitJune 2017
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
4/10

"not recommended as a transit airport"

(India)

Verified Review | Arrived on Brussels Airlines from Berlin to connect to my flight to Mumbai on Brussels Airlines as well. The arrival was on time but made to wait 20 minutes in the aircraft as we were told that they forgot to send the stairs to our remote stand. Once in BRU, the airport was terribly crowded and looked like a shopping mall. It said 18 minutes to the gate for my next flight but getting through immigration was a nightmare. Huge queues with thousands of passengers all complaining that their fllights were about to depart - all these people were on flights to the US and were transiting BRU. There were 6 counters open for this and hundreds of passengers. Clearly understaffed. Many people cut lines - no one on the ground to control all this. Immigration officials were quick but still took an hour. After this had to run to catch my flight. Shopping facilities were large but hardly got to browse due to the terrible congestion at this airport. Definitely not recommended as a transit airport.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitJuly 2017
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no